1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a low profile cable end connector for high frequency application.
2. Description of the Related Art
An RF (Radio Frequency) cable end connector is used for connecting a cable with an electronic device for transmitting RF signal. Such a conventional RF cable end connector is, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,340,312 B1 and 6,305,980 B2. Both patents are invented by the same inventor of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, which are similar to FIGS. 6 and 7 of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,312 patent, the cable end connector includes a dielectric housing 10xe2x80x2, a terminal 30xe2x80x2 received in the housing 10xe2x80x2, a shell 50xe2x80x2 enclosing the housing 10xe2x80x2, and a retainer 60xe2x80x2 attached to the shell 50xe2x80x2 for holding a coaxial cable 70 therein. The terminal 30xe2x80x2 includes a pair of mating portions 33xe2x80x2 and a planar tail portion 31xe2x80x2 extending rearwardly to contact with an inner conductor 71 of the coaxial cable 70. The shell 50xe2x80x2 has a pair of arms 513xe2x80x2 for accommodating the tail portion 31 xe2x80x2 of the terminal 30xe2x80x2 therebetween. A pair of sealing tabs 5133xe2x80x2 extend from free ends of the arms 513xe2x80x2 for clamping a braiding layer 73 of the coaxial cable 70.
However, the cable end connector with such a design regarding the connection of the terminal 30xe2x80x2 with the inner conductor 71 of the cable 70 cannot meet a higher operating frequency requirement, such as 6 GHz. To meet the high frequency requirement, the solder joint between the terminal 30xe2x80x2 and the inner conductor 71 should be located as close as possible to the mating portion 33xe2x80x2 of the terminal 30xe2x80x2, and the terminal 30xe2x80x2 and the inner conductor 71 should be minimized in size. Furthermore, particularly referring to FIG. 9, the retainer 60xe2x80x2 of the cable end connector has a pair of locking tabs 63xe2x80x2, a pair of braiding crimps 65xe2x80x2 and a strain relief 69xe2x80x2 respectively engaging with different portions of the cable 70 and the shell 50xe2x80x2, which results in an increased lengthwise dimension and increased production cost of the cable end connector. In addition, the height of cable end connector is also required to be reduced to comply with the miniaturization trend.
Hence, a low profile cable end connector for high operating frequency application is required to overcome the disadvantages of the related art.
A main object of the present invention is to provide a cable end connector for high operating frequency application.
Another object is to provide a cable end connector having a low profile and a reduced lengthwise dimension.
A cable end connector according to the present invention comprises a dielectric housing, a terminal received in the housing, a unitarily formed shell, and a retainer attached to the shell for holding a coaxial cable therein.
The housing includes a base portion and a tubular portion supported on the base portion. The terminal has a bottom portion and a pair of contacting wings extending upwardly from the bottom portion, wherein an inner conductor of a coaxial cable is soldered onto a lower surface of the bottom portion of the housing. The shell includes a planar portion attached to a bottom face of the base portion, and a trunk portion connected to the planar portion and enclosing the tubular portion of the housing. The trunk portion includes a pair of arms extending rearwardly to engage with a braiding layer of the coaxial cable. The retainer includes a pair of locking tabs respectively depending downwardly from opposite sides of the retainer for retaining the arms to the planar portion of the shell, and a contacting portion depressed from a top wall of the retainer to engage with the braiding layer of the coaxial cable. The locking tabs of the retainer achieves two functions: keeping the integrity of the cable end connector and grounding the braiding layer of the coaxial cable.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.